Fetching the Best Small Business News

The problem with project thinking is it leads you into the trap of continually needing new customers to have a healthy business. It can also mean that you get swamped with work for a time and then nothing, so you need to attract more customers. Sure there will be times when customers just want you do a one off project. However if you change the way you think about your services and how you offer them you could be surprised at the additional solutions you can actually offer your customers.

If a picture speaks a thousand words, then a video certainly adds a good few more on top of that. One area in which video is invaluable is the “how-to” instructional that takes a diagram, recipe, or list of steps and brings the topic to life. Whether you’re a small business owner and want to demo a product, an artisan wanting to show off your skills, or even a consumer with a passion for sharing knowledge, before you pick up the camcorder, have a read of our top tips.

After learning how to market themselves through tweets and status updates, some small companies are taking the next step: selling directly to consumers via social-networking sites. Merchants on Facebook and MySpace are adding e-commerce stores to their fan pages, hoping users will scan lists of for-sale items and services—such as floral bouquets, hand-crafted jewelry and spa treatments—and click a button to add them to online shopping carts.

There’s no firm statistics on how many small-business owners lend money to staff. But those who frequently engage in the practice say it makes good business sense. One reason, they say, is that it can help prevent a slowdown in productivity because workers who are stressed out about money may have difficulty focusing on their jobs. Another rationale for helping employees overcome financial hardships is that it can boost loyalty, morale and unity within a work force.

What attitude adjustments should you make in your business to influence your employees? The next time you get a customer complaint, online or not, is your reaction, “Oh geez, here we go again?” Or do you think to yourself, “A customer problem! This is my job to fix.” The difference in your attitude will translate into a difference in that of your employees, and might turn around how your business is perceived, online and off.

Despite all the criticism that Mark Zuckerberg has taken for his actions in the past, there is one thing that nobody can contest: Zuckerberg is an extremely shrewd business person. He often thinks in terms of decades, not days, weeks, or months, and has built the only site that has ever had the chance to take down (or at least compete with) Google. So what is it that has brought him to this point and what should entrepreneurs take away from his successes?

If you do not live in Australia you may not have seen the news that a 16 year old girl named Jessica Watson successfully sailed around the world unassisted. Apart from the feat itself which was pretty astounding, what caught my attention was the planning and execution by the team responsible for the marketing of the whole journey.